Teaching students to think critically constitutes an essential goal in American higher education because of its presumed role in advancing knowledge, entrepreneurship, and democracy. Despite decades of intensive debates and expanding global influence, critical thinking remains a contested concept. This is not only because educational theorists and practitioners continue to diverge on what critical thinking is and how to teach it, but also because newer questions have emerged on whether critical thinking as traditionally conceptualized and taught has been sufficiently critical of its own embedded cultural, class, and gender assumptions, and whether its hegemonic influence over other education and value systems amount to a form of conceptual colonization or neoliberal conceit.

Yet within these contestations, students’ perspectives on critical thinking as a set of valuable and transferrable skills are largely missing. While there has been a sustained research interest in assessing students’ critical thinking skills and in exploring their learning challenges—particularly for students from East Asia for whom critical thinking may constitute a new way of thinking different from what they had been taught previously in their home countries—in-depth understanding of students’ experiences vis-�-vis critical thinking is still lacking in the literature.

This qualitative dissertation fills the knowledge gap by addressing the following research questions: What are students’ perceptions and experiences with critical thinking? What factors might contribute to their varied understanding and application of critical thinking; vice versa, how does the acquisition of critical thinking, as an important educational outcome, play a role in their overall development? Drawing upon theories from sociology, psychology, and philosophy of education, this research project approaches these questions by examining holistically the experiences of transnational Chinese undergraduates—the largest student group of foreign origin in the United States. Based on extensive interview data and supplementary data sources from 20 participants at a research university in the U.S.—representing a wide range of demographic and educational backgrounds—the dissertation presents potentially significant findings for understanding the nature and function of critical thinking from a cross-cultural perspective.

For example, the study finds that, whereas the literature has often presented critical thinking as fostered in the West as a “paradigmatic” challenge for students from Asian countries or the East, many participants have developed important aspects of what they would later identify as critical thinking prior to higher education in the U.S. In addition, while critical thinking is typically conceptualized and taught as a set of logical and argumentative skills, participants’ descriptions of critical thinking often highlighted the attitudinal aspect (e.g., an independent, questioning, open, and truth-seeking spirit) as its defining features. Many of the participants also presented a more involved or complex practice of critical thinking outside of the academic domain, especially in their personal domain where open-ended, multi-logic questions frequently arise as they lead a more independent life abroad and straddle two sets of cultural norms or social practices that are still substantially different in many ways. Most prominently perhaps, the contrasts between participants with higher vs. lower demonstrations of critical thinking and their different orientations toward the self can shed light on the necessary internal development for a critical thinker that is also largely missing in the critical thinking literature and textbooks.

In short, findings from this study complicate the common understanding of critical thinking as an important educational goal in American higher education, as a readily transferable skills across domains, and as a challenge for students coming from non-Western or non-democratic cultures, such as transnational Chinese students. At the same time, the additional complexities from the findings may also add depth to and open up opportunities for, as educational theorists and researchers have been advocating for years, a reconceptualization of critical thinking. The dissertation addresses the call for rethinking and revitalizing critical thinking as an innately democratizing force that may be innate and universal in spirit, yet specific and diverse in forms—i.e., in its varied manifestations across disciplines, domains, and sociocultural contexts.

This dissertation investigated teachers’ practices in preschool science education between China and United States, especially focusing on the factors that affected teachers’ instruction in early childhood science education, teachers’ pedagogical practices in teaching children science, and teachers’ classroom discourse methods used in teaching science. Teachers usually maintain a leadership role in designing curriculum, conducting, and guiding activities/experiments and asking questions in the learning processes (Ravanis, 2017). For this reason, it is important to pay attention to teachers’ pedagogical practices in early childhood science education. Data was collected from fieldwork in kindergartens between China and United States. There was one kindergarten in Beijing, China and another kindergarten in Los Angeles, CA (United States). For each of the kindergartens, there were two classes and two teachers who participated in this study. This fieldwork included observing science classes, including how the teachers taught children science, and how they conducted science activities and experiments. I interviewed four teachers who taught science in the selected classes, analyzed textbooks, and documents relating to science education. The results showed the purpose for early childhood science education in the kindergartens in China and the United States were similar. Both strived to give children more chances to discover and explore by themselves, so that children could have more hands-on experiences and enjoy the process of science exploration. But in terms of the implementation of teaching children science, there were differences between kindergartens in China and the United States. For the kindergarten in China, because of the more structured curriculum and learning environment, science education was more teacher-centered and observation-oriented. Compared with the kindergarten in the United States, the curriculum design and the learning environment was more flexible and diverse, so that the science education was more student-centered and exploration-oriented. Although teachers’ beliefs towards teaching children science in the kindergartens in China and United States illuminated goals to embolden more opportunities for children to explore, teachers in the Chinese kindergarten still emphasized more on measuring learning outcomes whereas the teachers in the American kindergarten afforded more attention to the process of exploration.

“Traditional Birth Attendant” is a term assigned to women who assist in labor and delivery care using traditional methods, usually without authorized health care licensing or regulated trainings. While the practices of these women have often been documented for the purpose of historical or anthropological research, this study aims to document the modern day contribution of these women in the Ugandan women’s healthcare system. This study uses in-depth interviews and group counseling sessions with currently practicing Traditional Birth Attendants and is supplemented with data from the 2011 and 2016 Uganda Demographic Health Surveys. Analysis of these interviews yielded six primary themes, which are: training/introduction to the practice, prenatal care, postnatal care, traditional family planning/medicinal herb use, relationship counseling, benefits and challenges of the profession, and labia pulling. These findings provide evidence for policy reform that would allow Traditional Birth Attendants to support their communities as maternal and child health advocate.

The early childhood ecosystem is comprised of individuals, organizations/institutions, and microsystems (health, education, etc.) which support young children (ages 0-5). This ecosystem is path-dependent because of historical and ecological barriers and facilitators. These barriers and facilitators are sustained by social, political, and economic structures that perpetuate patterns of inequality in early childhood outcomes.The purpose of this research is to (1) identify these barriers and facilitators from the perspective of families in Los Angeles in Los Angeles as they seek to access informal and formal early childhood services and resources, and (2) understand the role of the early childhood system—encompassing the individuals, institutions, and microsystems centered on childhood development embedded within the early childhood ecosystem— in helping families. This research used qualitative methods to interview families, service providers, government officials, and community members across Los Angeles County, California (LA). LA was selected given the complexity of its early-childhood ecosystem. This research suggests that barriers and facilitators exist across the macro, meso, and micro-levels of the early childhood ecosystem - and contribute to the perpetuation of inequalities. Some of these barriers include poverty, gentrification, social isolation, language, and complicated bureaucracy. However, there are also facilitators expanding policy interests, increasing financial investments, and building social networks. Furthermore, this study found that while much of the early childhood system (embedded within the early childhood ecosystem) perpetuates patterned inequities, there are some individuals, organizations/institutions, and sub-systems that mitigate these barriers. Some of the characteristics of an effective early childhood system are strong governance and accountability, sustainable financing, strong partnerships, and empathetic and responsive programming. Findings indicate implications for policymakers, practitioners, and academics. For example, policymakers should create policies that accounts for the early childhood ecosystem, practitioners should design relational programming, and academics should seek to understand how the early childhood system can be leveraged to influence the early childhood ecosystem.

Rooted in six months of ethnographic fieldwork in a Tongan Diaspora community in southern California, this thesis analyzes the role of community in the Tongan Diaspora and its function in increasing social capital. This research demonstrates how Tongan community members negotiate meaning together to form a collective identity, and use language to create a cohesive and closed social network. It reveals that through membership in speech community, agency and identity construction, Tongan community members are part of a closed network with enough social capital to increase the cultural wealth of their community. By tapping into the existing funds of knowledge in the community, members have the tools for empowerment that can overcome many of the challenges that they face, including socioeconomic injustice, gang violence, and negotiating multiple sociocultural realities. The research provides an example of an existing powerful example of peer-leadership, and the potential for further community empowerment.

To truly provide inclusive learning spaces for all students, inclusive education must be provided for people with disabilities during the transitional period from compulsory school to employment. M�xico’s 2011 law of inclusion provides rights to people with disabilities for access to education and professional training. In the interest of understanding inclusive education for people with disabilities during higher education and vocational formation, this research examines the networks of actors supporting this policy in practice through an analysis of its networks of support. It seeks to understand the construct of disability, actors, collaboration, and supports across the levels of implementation. A Vertical Case Study was adapted to examine the actors, collaboration, and supports across the macro (global), meso (government), and micro (local) levels of this policy in practice. Qualitative analysis was used to analyze two types of data: documents and interviews. First, a systematic review was conducted to find policies and declarations from M�xico and global organizations focused on inclusion and people with disabilities. Next, interviews were conducted with those working in key government entities, program directors, and adult students with disabilities in higher education or vocational formation programs to understand what supports them in the implementation of this inclusive policy. Through an analysis of policies and declarations over time, it is clear the policy definition and construct of disability is not reaching local practitioners, nor is it permeating the full networks of support. The networks of support involved within this implementation in M�xico include supports from the government, community, schools, institutions, and resources. These networks are collaborating through their information sharing, provision of accommodations, and program implementation. This research can inform policymakers and program directors of the supports necessary for this policy in practice. It highlights the importance of these supports in providing inclusive spaces for students so that they might be successful in their education. It demonstrates the need for collaboration across and within departments through information sharing, development of institutional structures, and allocation of funding. Furthermore, it points to the requirement that these networks both instill an inclusive culture and provide access to this education and labor practice.

Despite decades of effort to improve education globally, girls in rural Kenya experience ongoing shortfalls in secondary school completion. Although dropout rates are high for all students, girls face social challenges related to gendered social processes that modify their aspirations and gendered structures that effectively limit their substantive freedom to pursue education. Gendered social processes are slow acting, can be subtle or overt, and can either enable or constrain one’s aspirations. Enabling processes are interpersonal words and actions that reinforce or encourage the expansion of one’s aspirations, while constraining processes dimmish, discount or discourage one’s aspirations leading a contraction of aspirations over time. Gendered structures consist of rules, norms and laws, as well as societal infrastructure that affect women and men differently. They can validate and promote gendered social processes but are not interpersonal. Using a gender-adapted modification of Caroline Hart’s aspirations theory that draws on social reproduction theory and the capabilities approach, I examine gendered social processes that alter girls’ aspirations over time through repeated encounters in three fields of social interaction, the school, the home, and the community (Bourdieu, 1977; Hart, 2012; Sen, 1999). I then examine gendered structures within the school, the community, and the home that limit girls’ ability to convert aspirations into achieved functionings by creating conflict between girls’ educational attainment and other valued aspects of well-being or restricting to girls’ ability to access education. The analysis documents the experiences and voices of adolescent girls in Western Kenya using semi-structured interviews conducted in the summer of 2019 at 4 schools across grades 8 and 9. The findings suggest that adolescent girls in rural Kenya face substantial gendered barriers to educational completion that manifest through gendered social processes that are legitimized and strengthened by gendered structures. These barriers are best addressed by local interventions that specifically attend to the needs of women and girls and that are inclusive of men, boys, and the community. Efforts to achieve social transformation for girls that fail to include males and the community are not likely to be effective.

Schools are increasingly tasked with the cultivation of global citizenship in their students. This is especially the case in international schools and in International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) contexts, as both institutions tend to stress ideals of global-mindedness and engaged participation in communities. Rhetoric hailing service-learning pedagogies abounds in these settings, and yet educators and students that try to organize community engagement efforts often face a host of challenges. This disconnect, between rhetoric and practice, is one that teachers and institutions alike seem interested in narrowing. Accordingly, this study focuses on pragmatic elements that can support and promote community engagement efforts.

This study is based on six months of fieldwork in three international IBO high schools that were recognized in the African region for their developed service-learning programs: the International School of Kenya, the International Community School of Addis Ababa, and the American International School of Johannesburg. Through document analysis, interviews, surveys, and participant observation, I focused on the perceptions of facilitators within these settings. As I explored facilitators’ standpoints, the follow questions guided my inquiry: 1) How do teachers and students perceive community engagement? 2) What are the perceived barriers to community engagement? 3) How do school communities approach these barriers? 4) What are the perceived supports that enable or promote community engagement? 5) How do school communities approach these supports? Ultimately, I was interested in understanding the pragmatics of service-learning efforts and on identifying strategies that might support their development.

Across all three settings, facilitators consistently alluded to a wide range of skills and understandings involved in community engagement efforts. This dissertation argues that projects are enhanced when team members develop proficiencies related to the following domains of knowledge: service-learning pedagogy, global issues awareness, familiarity with the school context, familiarity with the local context, leadership/organizational development, and communication/public relations. By recognizing the wide scope of competencies involved service-learning efforts, teams can be attentive to their collective proficiencies. They can solicit experts and refine skills in each respective area.

This study explored how U.S.-born children of Central American immigrants develop a sense of belonging through their engagement on social media. With young people already using technology as a tool for individual expression and political engagement (Jenkins et al., 2009; Kahne et al., 2016), this study sought to understand how belonging is developed and maintained within online spaces. The need to belong fulfills a basic desire to maintain attachments and relationships, but its absence can lead to a number of negative physical and psychological effects (Baumeister & Leary, 1995). Understanding the factors that encourage or hinder feelings of belonging for children of Central American parents is necessary as their community has been routinely vilified, particularly on social media. With more young people likely to be exposed to divisive anti-immigrant rhetoric online as more people flee violence and corruption in Central America, this study focused on how participants perceive of themselves and shape their sense of belonging from these online experiences at a time of rising nationalism and xenophobia.

This study addressed the following research questions: 1) What types of immigration-related content do children of Central American parents confront on social media, 2) how do they respond and engage with this content, and 3) how do these interactions shape their sense of belonging as U.S. citizens and members of an ethnic community. These questions were guided by Nira Yuval-Davis’s politics of belonging framework (2006) which identifies the social locations, personal identifications, and attachments where belonging is constructed and maintained. My study diverged from her framework by including online spaces as locations where belonging is also constructed. I also drew on James Banks’s failed citizenship framework (2015) to understand how participants’ sense of belonging or exclusion can produce different conceptions of citizenship. While fully recognized and accepted citizens develop strong attachments with the nation-state, those who experience failed citizenship feel alienation if they are excluded based on their race or culture. These feelings can however lead to different actions such as the pursuit of social justice and equality through civic action (2015).

Interviews were conducted with 10 participants, five male and five female, over the age of 18 who were born in the United States to two foreign-born parents of Central American heritage. Participants were recruited from organizations serving the Central American community in the Southern California area and from student-led college clubs. The findings show that participants’ engagement on social media has had an impact on their sense of belonging, helping them maintain stronger ties to their ethnic communities while negatively affecting their identification with the nation. While this suggests an example of failed citizenship, participants are using social media to engage in acts of transformative citizenship, solidarity, and activism to counter common narratives within the immigration debate and increase the visibility of the Central American community.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused many educational stakeholders to rethink the purpose and function of public education. The COVID-19 mediasphere and politically divided climate has ushered legislative stakeholders and the public’s attention to the need for media literacy education. Critical media literacy addresses the goals of media literacy education but also offers an explicit focus on addressing the relationships between audiences and media, information, and power. Because critical media literacy emphasizes challenging how power maps onto information and reproduces injustice, it requires an embodied stance that dissents against hierarchical forms of education and hegemonic systems, structures, and ideologies. Critical media literacy necessitates an embodied critical engagement (ways of being) with the world and critical pedagogical practices (ways of doing) at the classroom-level (Vasquez et al., 2019, p. 300). While there has been growing interest in the field of critical media literacy in the United States during the pandemic, more research is needed with practitioners to understand what shapes their critical embodiments and practices of critical media literacy.

This critical qualitative collective case study examined four secondary teachers’ embodiments and practices of critical media literacy during the COVID-19 pandemic in California. Two questions informed this study: 1) How do teachers describe their embodiments (ways of being) in relation to critical media literacy?, and 2) How do teachers’ practice (ways of doing) critical media literacy in their classrooms?. Building from Kellner and Share’s (2019) multiperspectival approach, this research was guided by several critical social theories, including: cultural studies, democratic inquiry-based pedagogy, critical pedagogy, and intersectionality. Data collection included: qualitative semi-structured interviews and artifacts (e.g., teachers’ lesson plans, student work samples, etc.). Data was analyzed through two rounds of coding: in vivo and axial. Findings indicated that teachers’ embodiments of critical media literacy were influenced by their journeys to criticality and rooted in transformative worldviews. Teachers' practices of critical media literacy relied on co-constructing safe and critical communities and scaffolding critical media analysis and production. This research study establishes a starting point for subsequent critical media literacy education research, theory, practice, and policy by providing examples of teachers’ embodied perspectives and practices.